Patients who are confined to wheelchairs require means for body support to keep them from inadvertently falling to one side, or sliding out of the chair. Padded supports for wheelchair occupants are well-known. These include both wheelchair covers and individual small pillows which are stuffed between the patient and the side arms of the wheelchair to provide lateral support for the patient. For adequate restraint, sufficient grip between the padding, chair, and the patient is required, but lacking in the prior art supports. Furthermore, while most padded chair supports concentrate on limiting the lateral deflection of the torso of the patient, few employ means to restrain the movement of the patient's head.
There are several prior art supports for completely restraining the motion of the head and body of the patient, however, these are generally tightly fitting straps which are very uncomfortable and not designed for use by handicapped or senile patients who spend much of their time in wheelchairs. The various prior art cushions which utilize a plurality of belts and straps are extremely inconvenient for patients who must enter and exit the wheelchair many times during the day.
The closest prior art to the present invention of which the applicant is aware is U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,425, issued to Yetter, Jr., entitled "Head and Torso Restraint". This patent describes the system of individual side pillows which are attached to the wheelchair by straps. It further shows a strap-like head restraint for use in conjunction with the side support pillows; and, therefore, represents an assemblage of three individual parts. While these prior art supports are effective to some extent, they represent a cumbersome assembly of pieces which are difficult to use. Also, padded chair supports of this type can only be used with chairs having arms or side rails.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide, in combination with a wheelchair or other chair, means for restraining both the head and torso of a patient seated in the chair without the use of belts or straps, or similar devices which restrict the patient's freedom from entering and exiting the chair.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a comfortable, padded chair restraint which supports the head and torso of the patient in the form of a one-piece, padded chair cover, easily installed on, or removed from the chair.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a padded chair cover which supports the head and torso of the occupant, which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to clean and maintain.